Diario

... that I am mega bored. OMG study leave and exams are so flipping numbing. And transfer programs fucking suck balls. "Hi, I am trying to obtain a Master's degree in Film Studies. WHY THE HELL DO I NOT HAVE ANY COURSES ABOUT FILMS??!!"

Now that I got that off my chest, the other things I have to mention are as follows:

1. Metallica obsession is back. This time I am focusing on Kill 'em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All and The Black Album. AJFO has MAJORLY grown on me this time around. I really only used to like Harvester Of Sorrow, Sad But True and One, and the other ones kind of just blurred together into one riff, but this time I can't get enough of the entire album. Okay, Ride The Lightning is still my favourite, but it's really, really, really close. The only thing (next to the bland production but that's been covered time and time again), is that I don't think Dyers Eve fits the album. It's a typical Metallica track, but it's kind of... not in the same league as the other tracks, which are very heavy in theme, while this one is basically: "FUCK PARENTS, I hate them!!! *stomps foot*". Still, d.a.m.n. It's the Seattle '89 concert that did it. Man, the energy. Jason's head bangin', Kirk's geeky tiny little frame :') (though he's a true genius), James the Man-beast of course, and Lars, well... you know.

2. I'm considering buying St. Anger. It's like that time I wanted to buy Dark Light by HIM and my brain said "Geri, NOOOOOOOOOOO..." but I did anyway and it sucked. On the other hand, I'll never know if I don't try. Or maybe I could just get it to complete my collection but never actually put it on.

3. Kind of thought the Foo obsession would last longer. Don't get me wrong, the love's still there, I still pop them on occasionally and it'll definitely hit back hard when I go to see them in August. If anything it's their own fault. If Dave the friggin' man himself didn't mention Metallica so much in interviews I would still be drooling over them like a little fan girl. I rest my case.

4. I'm going to see The Music play live after all! Thank god for farewell tours! Thank god for British friends who buy tickets for you even if you're not sure you can make it! Please please please let them play Getaway and Float. And Vision. And every other song they have. Let them just play for a week non-stop.

Just when I thought Metallica had been the last of my 'big obsessions', along comes the nicest guy in rock. Hi, Dave.

Okay, I'm not at all new with Foo Fighters, my older sisters all used to love this band. I clearly remember one of them majorly crushing over Dave. I wanted to be cool so I usually pretended to like the stuff they listened to. Ironically, at this point in life I genuinely like most of that music. Back then I liked some bands, but definitely not all. Still, without my sisters I would never have listened to bands like Muse, Placebo, Zita Swoon or Foo Fighters (or, sadly, HIM, haha) at the age of twelve.

Anywho, there I wandered off again. Okay so a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon this video: .

My god, how I laughed and laughed. Dave's true to life about-to-barf-moments are priceless. And I thought, hey, what about digging up all that Foo Fighters music? After their single Times Like These I had gotten a bit behind, the only song after that I totally digged was The Pretender. That still is one mighty fucking epic rock song, btw. Remains my most listened to song out of their back catalogue to date. But anywho, I realised I was still about 10 years behind, which in other words is a decade, so something had to be done. Also, I seriously dig some of his other endeavours (QotSA/Them Crooked Vultures), so it's only fair I ultimately got back to FF. Since I don't really remember many of the songs that well anymore, it's been really fun listening to them.

Also, Dave goes on my list of epic frontmen. For starters, he still has long hair. Or again. In any case, that takes dedication. Also, he's bad ass. He's okay with downloading music. He was in Nirvana. He's nice & funny. He's a friggin' one man band, when he wants to be. I shook his left hand once (I was confused) and he switched hands for me. If that's not gentlemenly behaviour, I know nothing. Haha. Also, considering my friend and I had spent the previous seconds trying to push 'the tall guy' out of the way because 'we want to see Dave!', he was perfectly polite. Hell, my mother loves him. Same with Taylor Hawkins. Bad ass drummer, completely devoted and still fan-boying over Dave at the same time. Be still my heart.

So yeah, with the new album on the way, I am just in time ready and updated. And hell yes I have tickets to the Back & Forth documentary + album showcase (the stream, obviously - although my sister actually believed they'd show up). It's going to be awesome.

Here are my faves in no order in particular (But the faves of the faves as usual somewhere at the top). New album included, though it needs more listens.

The PretenderNew Way HomeLowTimes Like TheseErase/ReplaceLearn To FlySummer's EndAll My LifeWinnebagoWind UpExhaustedDOAHaloBest Of You (that one really, really grew on me)BreakoutNext YearBig MeCome AliveCheer Up Boys (Your Makeup is running)See YouEnd Over EndRopeBridge BurningThis Is A CallWalking A LineWheelsOn The MendPodunkCold Day In The SunCome BackLong Road To RuinLet It DieNo Way BackWeenie BeenieFriend Of A FriendI'll Stick AroundEverlongStacked ActorsStranger Things Have HappenedWattershedMy Poor BrainGood GriefWhite LimoArlandriaEnough SpaceWalking After YouOverdriveAin't It The LifeBack & ForthI Should Have Known (Krist! Sleazy bass! Drama! omg! OMG!)

so I just finished my semester exams. Days and days and days of endless stress, nervous panicky laughter, coffee and energy drinks. Did you know coca cola produces an energy drink called Nalu, only in Belgium and Luxembourg? You do now. Anyway, exams this year were a bit different musically. I usually take up some odd obsession mid-December (remember HIM? that was some crazy shit, I still don't know how I managed to listen to them 3000+ times in just six weeks), and then stick with it for at least a month or so after exams have ended. This year however, it was more like a rapid succession of obsessions. A recap.

1 It started with Angels In America, which is actually a mini-series, but the music is definitely important to the story. The theme tune is soooo beautiful. The series is beautiful. Anyone who hasn't seen it, I strongly recommend it, it will make you hate, laugh, cry, question the entire world and sometimes all those at the same time. Seriously.

2 Then, there was Buster Keaton. My god, that deadpan face is just priceless. Such a fine actor, such a crazy bmf.

3 I think at that point it was also Paramore, but only with these three songs: Crushcrushcrush, Ignorance & Decode (again). I don't really know why either, I have nothing against them but I don't like their other stuff either. Those songs are just pleasant to listen to. The woman can sing, that, too.

4 After that one came one of the classics, The Strokes. Who have a new album on the way! We have brilliance ahead of us! Julian's beautiful deep voice makes just about any song epic, even this one. But mostly the stuff on Room on Fire.

5 I then went on to Kasabian (Hi, Tom Meighan, you're my hero). Need I say more, they are awesomeness on a stick.

6 Oh but now. My latest obsession is The Music. I knew them from when Welcome To The North came out, and I have always bought their albums and have listened to them with great pleasure and appreciation, but somehow I never spotted the actual geniosity of it all. Until now, that is. I was on YouTube watching Kasabian videos and suddenly out of nowhere found myself wondering if The Music had ever released videos. I looked it up, found Getaway, remembered how freaking awesome that song is, and then and there it happened, really. I started listening to their early stuff. My god, words cannot describe how exciting they were. First, there's that insane blend of guitars and sounds I won't even try to place, and then there's Rob Harvey's voice, which is really in a category of its own, almost incomprehensively singing over all that noise. Their B-sides and their debut album The Music (good luck trying to find thát on Google) are really impressive, especially if you consider their age. I would even dare say what they did was more impressive than what Arctic Monkeys did on their debut.

Sadly, tt's really no wonder Welcome to The North was no success. I owned that album first, thought it rocked, and it does. In its own right it's a wonderful album with many strong songs. Cessation, Breakin', I need Love, to name a few. But compared to the early stuff, something's definitely missing. The sounds they produced as teenagers easily overclass everything they did on Welcome To The North, and later on Strength In Numbers. On those albums, they became pretty straight forward, Rob's voice is more distinct (and he articulates - well, kind of - which kind of makes everything less mysterious) and the general 'wtf is happening?' feeling is gone. And, to make matters worse, they don't even exist anymore. Truly a band that never reached its full potential, I think. And who knows how mindblowing that would have sounded? So much promise. I really hope they get back together in the future. They are being missed, that's for sure... just go check out the comments section for basically any video of theirs on YouTube.

Maybe they could do like The Verve. Just call it quits and start again and then do that three times in a row :).

Okay, I didn't mean to write a book. I got carried away. Besides, I mainly write this for myself anyway, haha.

Here's a list of the songs I listened to most these past 37 or so days of isolation.

1 Angels In America - Thomas Newman2 The Mormons - Thomas Newman3 Quartet - Thomas Newman4 Crushcrushcrush - Paramore5 Ignorance - Paramore6 Decode - Paramore7 Whatever Happened - The Strokes8 Reptilia - The Strokes9 Heart In A Cage - The Strokes10 Automatic Stop - The Strokes11 Alone, Together - The Strokes12 Someday - The Strokes13 Evening Sun - The Strokes14 Ize Of The World - The Strokes15 Fire - Kasabian16 Shoot The Runner - Kasabian17 L.S.F. - Kasabian18 Cut Off - Kasabian19 Processed Beats - Kasabian20 Empire - Kasabian21 The Doberman - Kasabian (seriously, that ending is some delicious stuff)22 Getaway - The Music23 Float - The Music24 Disco - The Music25 The Dance - The Music26 Breakin' - The Music27 The People - The Music28 The Truth Is No Words - The Music29 Take The Long Road and Walk It - The Music30 Jag Tune - The Music31 Dragon Song - The Music32 Karma - The Music33 You Might As Well Try To Fuck Me - The Music34 Welcome To The North - The Music35 Cessation - The Music36 I Need Love - The Music37 Strength In Numbers - The Music

And we all know that means I can't but crack open a bottle of pop (music).

Hi, Jonas Brothers? I know we will never have the vigorous listening schedule from last year again, but I'm still not too old to listen to yer young innocent nasal voices yammering on about loves you've all never had. Countless times have I laughed at your youtube videos, as I will upon seeing them again. Oh, and Camp Rock II? Consider it done, me lads.

I might even find the time to dig up some of your Disney friends, depending on the amount of sunshine at the given time. Or did I really delete Demi Lovato's album without listening once? If I did, that was obviously in winter where I need the strong, manly stuff. But thank God I've got that back up of Hilary Duff, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears cd's. I will refrain from Miley Cyrus only because I tried that before and we didn't click. Except for Party In The USA but who didn't like that song, really?

ps James Hetfield, please don't worry. You're still the man (HURRR!).ps II laughing fit? I shall kindly direct you to this lovely group.

Note: Out of fear of extreme disappointment I haven't listened to St Anger ever. I might one day, but for now I would like to keep my extremely high respect for these men. So I'm not coming near this dreaded album until someone convinces me with well underbuilt arguments I will still be able to look at James Hetfield with the same admiration.

Enough with the yapping already, here is the list. All albums included except the one previously mentioned. No order of preference.

Also, Ride The Lightning is my favourite album in its entirety. The atmosphere is just perfect and they managed to maintain that special vibe throughout each song. I see why Master Of Puppets is their 'masterpiece', I see its brilliance, but still... in addition to the atmosphere, Ride The Lightning has that typical 'relatively new band displaying their talents' without losing their boy-ish charm just yet.

And while I can sort of understand the disappointment of many fans in anything after the Black Album, I love Load and Reload quite a bit, they're full of that sleazy kind of rock. Just shows how versatile they've been through the years.

God I wish some people never grew old. If they had stayed in their late twenties-early thirties forever, how amazing would that be?

I just found out a new HIM album is on the way. That also means a new obsession is on the way. I'm just going to have to accept it; HIM is never leaving the number one spot.

HOW ON EARTH did it happen that I got so involved with a mediocre band? I actually know they're not that good, yet so addictive.

They're a bit like alcohol, in a way.

Plus, could Ville get any skinnier? He's about to disappear anytime now. And starting to look like Brandon Boyd, who is equally on the verge of becoming see through. I mean, I do tend to rather like skinny frames on men, but for their age it's a bit extreme, no?

"A little too mainstream... but still a nice track" is probably the LAMEST ATTITUDE TOWARDS MUSIC EVER.

Gah it pisses me off tremendously. If you like it, you like it. WHO THE FUCK cares if the song's in the charts or not? It's not a crime to like music in the mainstream circuit and it certainly isn't the end of good music if over 0.0000002581% of the population has heard of your favourite 'underground' band.

As always, not in any order, although the first five are probably my favourites of the favourites :)

1 Love Is On Its Way - I'm not planning on commenting on each song, but I think this one is amazing. Even if I hadn't been in my pop phase, I would have loved it. If that's the way they're going, I'm happy. Also, some of the video was filmed in Central Park exactly where Anthony and I sat, the first day we were in New York and didn't have anywhere to go. It brings back all these amazing memories. Good grief I miss that place so much.2 Burnin' Up3 Lovebug4 World War III5 Hey Baby6 Much Better7 Play My Music8 Goodnight and Goodbye9 One Man Show10 Paranoid11 Don't Charge Me For The Crime12 Tonight13 Got Me Going Crazy14 Turn Right15 Keep It Real16 A Little Bit Longer (live, preferably)17 Bb Good

ps I just killed a huge spider in my room... I'm not sleeping tonight.

In my experience, lots of people who bash pop music either don't understand it, never actually listen to it, or are in denial. I went through a phase in which I was afraid to admit my love for the genre, too, because somehow it inmediately means you're also superficial and lazy (music wise), but I've come to terms with it. I know exactly why I'm so fond of it. It's easy, instant gratification, and there's nothing more fun than singing along to corny lyrics and nice melodies. So there. Now, if you are disgusted at what you just read, leave.

The latest addition to my pop collection - I jumped on the bandwagon at last, after I couldn't get Paranoid out of my head - are the Jonas Brothers. Good grief, so enjoyable. Last year I was quick to dismiss them, but I've had to reconsider. The youngest Jonas is a flipping Broadway veteran, so that says a thing or two about his vocal skills. After finding out about that, I was really curious so I got their two most recent albums and I'm pleasantly suprised. Despite being shamelessly exploited by Disney, they've written some catchy, catchy stuff, and I'm absolutely blown away by their voices, they're actually pretty peculiar.

Here's to hoping they get rid of Disney soon, because as much as I love anything Disney-related, I do think working for it is less charming and very demanding. I expect the eldest Jonas to snap first.